Systems and methods for facilitating feed in a network-based marketplace

ABSTRACT

Feeds in a network-based marketplace are described. The system receives a request, over a network, from a user that is associated with feed selection information, and identifies source feeds based on the feed selection information. The source feeds respectively include a first plurality of content elements. The system generates a presentation feed by retrieving a second plurality of content elements from the source feeds. The generating is performed continuously and in real-time. The system segments the presentation feed into pages and generates interfaces that include a first interface based on the pages. The system communicates the first interface, over the network, to the user, responsive to the receiving of the request.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/696,539, filed on Sep. 6, 2017,which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/946,911, filed on Jul. 19, 2013 (nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,786,001), which claims the benefit of priorityto both of: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/696,633, filed Sep. 4,2012, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/798,201, filed Mar. 15,2013 all of which are incorporated in their entireties by reference.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and dataas described below and in the drawings that form a part of thisdocument: Copyright eBay, Inc. 2012, All Rights Reserved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to the technical field of data communications.More particularly, systems and methods for facilitating feed in anetwork-based marketplace.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments illustrated, by way of example and not limitation, in thefigures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system, according to an embodiment, forfacilitating feed in a network-based marketplace;

FIG. 2 further illustrates a system, according to an embodiment, tofacilitate feed in an network-based marketplace;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating marketplace applications andpayment applications, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating tables, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating a feed table, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 4C is a block diagram illustrating source feed information,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating source feeds, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating listing source feeds, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 5C is a block diagram illustrating review source feeds, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 5D is a block diagram illustrating business source feeds, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 5E is a block diagram illustrating personality source feeds,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5F is a block diagram illustrating a presentation feed, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 5G is a block diagram illustrating a content element, according toan embodiment;

FIG. 6A is a block diagram illustrating an items table, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a listing, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6C is a block diagram illustrating user table, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6D is a block diagram illustrating user information, according toan embodiment;

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a method, according to anembodiment, to facilitate feed in a network-based marketplace;

FIG. 7B is a block diagram illustrating a method, according to anembodiment, to add or remove an interest;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a “My Feed” user interface, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a site map, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a “Viewed” user interface, according to inembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a “Edit My Feed” user interface, according to anembodiment; and

FIG. 12 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of some example embodiments. It will be evident, however,to one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be practiced without these specific details.

A network-based marketplace is a website or a mobile application where auser may buy or sell goods or services (referred to collectively as“items”) from a provider of the online marketplace or other users of theonline marketplace. A feed is an aggregation of selected pieces ofcontent provided to the user in a network-based marketplace. Theaggregation may appear to the user as a webpage or other graphical userinterface. The content may include listings describing items for sale,related articles, reviews of items for sale, reviews of (or otherinformation about) sellers, information about the online marketplace,special offers or discounts available to the user, information aboutpeople identified by the user as a “friend” in a social network, orother information determined to be relevant to the user. The contentelement may be presented as a thumbnail (of one of a plurality ofavailable thumbnail sizes) that is selectable by the user to perform oneor more actions such as a detailed view of the content, an option to beprovided updates to the content (“watch” the content), an option to beprovided further content that is similar to the selected content, to buyan item described by the content, or to share the content with one ormore other users via various channels (e.g., email, chat, Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, etc.).

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 3, according to an embodiment, to facilitatefeed in a network-based marketplace (e.g., online marketplace). Thesystem 3 is shown to include a client machine 5, a social networking website 7 that is hosted on a remote server, a network access platform 9providing connectivity to a mobile device 11, and a network-basedmarketplace 12. The client machine 9, social networking web site 7 andthe mobile device 11, respectively, communicate over a network 14 withthe network-based marketplace 12. In one embodiment, the network-basedmarketplace 12 may communicate a user interface 35 that includes contentelements 15 to the client machine 9 or the mobile device 11. The contentelements 15 may include listings of items for sale on the network-basedmarketplace 12 and other information. The user interface 35 includingthe content elements 15 may be generated and communicated to the user byfeed applications that execute on the network-based marketplace 12. Thefeed applications may include a receive module 21, a process module 23,and a communication module 25. The receive module 21 may receive arequest from a user and associate the request of the user with feedselection information. The feed selection information may be configuredby the user. In one instance the feed selection information may beconfigured by receiving a selection from a user that identifies aninterest of the user. The process module 23 may utilize the feedselection information to access a feed table 27 to identify multiplesource feeds 29 that respectively include different types of contentelements 15. For example, one source feed 29 may include listings thatdescribe items that are for sale on the network-based marketplace 12 andthat have relevance to the user. The process module 23 may furtherutilize content selection information to select the content elements.The content selection information may be configured by the user. In oneinstance the content selection information may be configured byreceiving a selection from a user that identifies an interest of theuser. The content selection information may be utilized to identifycontent elements in the source feeds 29 and generate a presentation feed31. For example, the process module 23 may generate the presentationfeed 31 by selecting the content elements 15 from the source feeds 29based on content selection information. The process module 23 maygenerate the presentation feed 31 continuously in real-time, segment thepresentation feed 31 into multiple pages, and generate one or moreinterfaces (e.g., client machine user interface and mobile device userinterface) based on the pages. Finally, the communication module 25 maycommunicate an interface over the network to the user responsive toreceipt of the request. In some instances the user may indefinitelyprompt the network-based marketplace 12 for communication of subsequentinterfaces as the presentation feed 31 is continuously generated inreal-time.

The social networking web site 7 may be embodied as FACEBOOK® services,a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work,study and live around them provided by Facebook of Palo Alto, Calif. Inone embodiment one or more of the source feeds 29 associated with theuser may be identified based on a “friend” of the user. For example, theuser may be associated with one or more other users on the network-basedmarketplace 12 or the social networking web site 7 as a “friend” and thesource feed 29 associated with the “friend” may be used to generate thepresentation feed 31 of the user.

The mobile device 11 may be embodied as an iPhone mobile phonemanufactured by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. or, as, a Blackberry™mobile phone manufactured by Research In Motion of Waterloo, Ontario.The interface 35 that is generated for the mobile 11 device may bedifferent from the interface generated for the client machine 5.

FIG. 2 further illustrates a system 10, according to an embodiment, tofacilitate feed in a network-based marketplace 12. The networked system10 corresponds to the system 3 in FIG. 1 and, accordingly, the same orsimilar references have been used to indicate the same or similarfeatures unless otherwise indicated. The network-based marketplace 12provides server-side functionality, via a network 14 (e.g., the Internetor Wide Area Network (WAN)) to one or more clients. FIG. 2 illustrates,for example, a web client 16 (e.g., a browser, such as the InternetExplorer browser developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.State) executing on client machine 20, a programmatic client 18executing on client machine 22, and a mobile web client 45 executing onmobile device 11. For example, the mobile web client 45 may be embodiedas one or more mobile modules that are used to support the Blackberry™wireless hand held business or smart phone manufactured by Research InMotion of Waterloo, Ontario.

An Application Program Interface (API) server 24 and a web server 26 arecoupled to, and provide programmatic and web interfaces respectively to,one or more application servers 28. The application servers 28 host oneor more marketplace applications 30 and payment applications 32. Theapplication servers 28 are, in turn, shown to be coupled to one or moredatabase servers 34 that facilitate access to one or more databases 36.

The marketplace applications 30 may provide a number of marketplacefunctions and services to users that access the network-basedmarketplace 12. The payment applications 32 may likewise provide anumber of payment services and functions to users. The paymentapplications 32 may allow users to accumulate value in accounts and thento later redeem the accumulated value for products (e.g., goods orservices) that are made available via the marketplace applications 30.The value may be accumulated in a commercial currency, such as the U.S.dollar, or a proprietary currency, such as “points.” While themarketplace applications 30 and payment applications 32 are shown inFIG. 2 to both form part of the network-based marketplace 12, it will beappreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the payment applications32 may form part of a payment service that is separate and distinct fromthe network-based marketplace 12.

Further, while the networked system 10 shown in FIG. 2 employsclient-server architecture, embodiments of the present disclosure are ofcourse not limited to such an architecture and could equally well findapplication in a distributed, or peer-to-peer, architecture system, forexample. The various marketplace applications 30 and paymentapplications 32 could also be implemented as standalone softwareprograms, which do not necessarily have networking capabilities.

The web client 16 and mobile web client 45 access the variousmarketplace applications 30 and payment applications 32 via the webinterface supported by the web server 26. Similarly, the programmaticclient 18 accesses the various services and functions provided by themarketplace applications 30 and payment applications 32 via theprogrammatic interface provided by the API server 24. The programmaticclient 18 may, for example, be a seller application (e.g., theTurboLister application developed by eBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) toenable sellers to author and manage listings on the network-basedmarketplace 12 in an off-line manner, and to perform batch-modecommunications between the programmatic client 18 and the network-basedmarketplace 12.

FIG. 2 also illustrates a third party application 43, executing on athird party server machine 41, as having programmatic access to thenetworked system 10 via the programmatic interface provided by the APIserver 24. The third party application 43 may communicate feed selectioninformation and content selection information to the network-basedmarketplace. In one embodiment the feed selection information and thecontent selection information may be associated with a user that isregistered on the network-based marketplace 12 and the third partyserver machine 41 (e.g., social networking web site). The third partywebsite may communicate user interfaces to the client machines 22, 20 ormobile device 11.

The mobile device 11 may be embodied as a mobile phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a cell phone, or any other wireless device thatis capable of communicating with the network-based marketplace 12. Forexample, the mobile device 11 may be embodied as an iPhone mobile phonemanufactured by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. or, as previouslymentioned, a Blackberry™ mobile phone manufactured by Research In Motionof Waterloo, Ontario.

Marketplace and Payment Applications

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating marketplace applications 30 andpayment applications 32 that, in one example embodiment, are provided aspart of the networked system 10 of FIG. 2. The marketplace applications30 and payment applications 32 may be hosted on dedicated or sharedserver machines, as shown on FIG. 2, that are communicatively coupled toenable communications between server machines. The applicationsthemselves are communicatively coupled (e.g., via appropriateinterfaces) to each other and to various data sources, so as to allowinformation to be passed between the applications or so as to allow theapplications to share and access common data. The applications mayfurthermore access one or more databases 36 via the database servers 34,as shown on FIG. 2.

The network-based marketplace 12 of FIG. 2 may provide a number ofpublishing, listing and price-setting mechanisms whereby a seller maylist (or publish information concerning) goods or services for sale; abuyer may indicate a desire to purchase such goods or services; and aprice can be set for a transaction pertaining to the goods or services.To this end, the marketplace applications 30 are shown to include atleast one publication application 40 and one or more auctionapplications 42 which support auction-format listing and price settingmechanisms (e.g., English, Dutch, Vickrey, Chinese, Double, Reverseauctions, etc.). The various auction applications 42 may also provide anumber of features in support of such auction-format listings, such as areserve price feature whereby a seller may specify a reserve price inconnection with a listing and a proxy-bidding feature whereby a biddermay invoke automated proxy bidding.

A number of fixed-price applications 44 support fixed-price listingformats (e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type listing ora catalogue listing) and buyout-type listings. Specifically, buyout-typelistings (e.g., including the Buy-It-Now (BIN) technology developed byeBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) may be offered in conjunction withauction-format listings and may allow a buyer to purchase goods orservices, which are also being offered for sale via an auction, for afixed-price that is typically higher than the starting price of theauction.

Store application(s) 46 allows a seller to group listings within a“virtual” store, which may be branded and otherwise personalized by andfor the seller. Such a virtual store may also offer promotions,incentives and features that are specific and personalized to a relevantseller.

Reputation applications 48 allow users that transact, utilizing thenetwork-based marketplace 12, to establish, build and maintainreputations, which may be made available and published to potentialtrading partners. Consider that where, for example, the network-basedmarketplace 12 supports person-to-person trading, users may otherwisehave no history or other reference information whereby thetrustworthiness and credibility of potential trading partners may beassessed. The reputation applications 48 allow a user to establish areputation within the network-based marketplace 12 over time, forexample, through feedback provided by other transaction partners and bythe computation of a feedback score based on the feedback. For example,the feedback score may be publicly displayed by the network-basedmarketplace 12. Other potential trading partners may then reference sucha feedback score for the purposes of assessing credibility andtrustworthiness.

Personalization applications 50 allow users of the network-basedmarketplace 12 to personalize various aspects of their interactions withthe network-based marketplace 12. For example, a user may, utilizing anappropriate personalization application 50, create a personalizedreference page at which information regarding transactions to which theuser is (or has been) a party may be viewed. Further, a personalizationapplication 50 may enable a user to personalize listings and otheraspects of their interactions with the networked system 10 and otherparties.

The networked system 10 may support a number of marketplaces that arecustomized, for example, for specific geographic regions. A version ofthe networked system 10 may be customized for the United Kingdom,whereas another version of the networked system 10 may be customized forthe United States. Some of these versions may operate as an independentmarketplace, or may be customized (or internationalized) presentationsof a common underlying marketplace. The networked system 10 mayaccordingly include a number of internationalization applications 52that customize information (and/or the presentation of information) bythe networked system 10 according to predetermined criteria (e.g.,geographic, demographic or marketplace criteria). For example, theinternationalization applications 52 may be used to support thecustomization of information for a number of regional websites that areoperated by the networked system 10 and that are accessible viarespective servers 24 and 26 both of FIG. 2.

Navigation of the network-based marketplace 12 may be facilitated by oneor more navigation applications 54. For example, the network-basedmarketplace 12 may receive search information to search for items on thenetwork-based marketplace and a processing application may process thatrequest. A browse application may allow users to browse variouscategory, catalogue, or inventory data structures according to whichlistings may be classified within the networked system 10. Various othernavigation applications may be provided to supplement the search andbrowsing applications.

In order to make listings available via the networked system 10 asvisually informing and attractive as possible, the marketplaceapplications 30 may include one or more imaging applications 56 withwhich users may upload images (e.g., thumbnail images) for inclusionwithin listings. An imaging application 56 also operates to incorporateimages (e.g., thumbnail images) within viewed listings. The imagingapplications 56 may also support one or more promotional features, suchas image galleries that are presented to potential buyers. For example,sellers may pay an additional fee to have an image included within agallery of images for promoted items.

Listing creation applications 58 allow sellers to conveniently authorlistings pertaining to goods or services that they wish to transact viathe network-based marketplace 12, while the listing managementapplications 60 allow sellers to manage such listings. Specifically,where a particular seller has authored and/or published a large numberof listings, the management of such listings may present a challenge.The listing creation applications 58 may further facilitate a buyerwatching specific listings or specific types of listings. The listingmanagement applications 60 provide a number of features (e.g.,auto-relisting, inventory level monitors, etc.) to assist the seller inmanaging such listings.

One or more post-listing management applications 62 may also assistsellers with a number of activities that may typically occurpost-listing. For example, upon completion of an auction facilitated byone or more auction applications 42, a seller may wish to leave feedbackregarding a particular buyer. To this end, a post-listing managementapplication 62 may provide an interface to one or more reputationapplications 48, so as to allow the seller conveniently to providefeedback regarding multiple buyers to the reputation applications 48.

Dispute resolution applications 64 provide mechanisms whereby disputesarising between transacting parties may be resolved. For example, thedispute resolution applications 64 may provide guided procedures wherebythe parties are guided through a number of steps in an attempt to settlea dispute. In the event that the dispute cannot be settled via theguided procedures, the dispute may be escalated to a third partymediator or arbitrator.

A number of fraud prevention applications 66 implement fraud detectionand prevention mechanisms to reduce the occurrence of fraud within thenetwork-based marketplace 12.

Messaging applications 68 are responsible for the generation anddelivery of messages to users of the network-based marketplace 12, withsuch messages, for example, advising users regarding the status oflistings at the network-based marketplace 12 (e.g., providing “outbid”notices to bidders during an auction process or to providing promotionaland merchandising information to users). Respective messagingapplications 68 may utilize any one of a number of message deliverynetworks and platforms to deliver messages to users. For example,messaging applications 68 may deliver electronic mail (e-mail), instantmessage (IM), Short Message Service (SMS), text, facsimile, or voice(e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP)) messages via the wired (e.g., theInternet), Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), or wireless (e.g.,mobile, cellular, WiFi (e.g., IEEE 802.11 technologies including802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a)), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (e.g., WiMAX-IEEE 802.16) networks.

Merchandising applications 70 support various merchandising functionsthat are made available to sellers to enable sellers to increase salesvia the network-based marketplace 12. The merchandising applications 70also operate the various merchandising features that may be invoked bysellers and may monitor and track the success of merchandisingstrategies employed by sellers. In addition, the user may utilize thetransaction incentivizing applications 72 to select one or morecriterion that may be used to generate a social goodness index that isused to generate a badge.

The Feed Applications 74 may facilitate feed in the network-basedmarketplace as described throughout this document. The Feed Applications74 may include the receive module 21, process module 23 andcommunication module 25.

Data Structures

FIG. 4A is a high-level entity-relationship diagram, illustratingvarious tables 200 that may be maintained within the databases 36 ofFIG. 2, and that are utilized by and support the marketplaceapplications 30 and payment applications 32 both of FIG. 3. A user table202 contains a record for registered users of the network-basedmarketplace 12 of FIG. 2. A user may operate as a seller, a buyer, orboth, within the network-based marketplace 12. In one exampleembodiment, a buyer may be a user that has accumulated value (e.g.,commercial or proprietary currency), and is accordingly able to exchangethe accumulated value for items that are offered for sale by thenetwork-based marketplace 12.

The tables 200 also include an items table 204 in which item records(e.g., listings) are maintained for goods and services that areavailable to be, or have been, transacted via the network-basedmarketplace 12. Item records (e.g., listings) within the items table 204may furthermore be linked to one or more user records within the usertable 202, so as to associate a seller and one or more actual orpotential buyers with an item record (e.g., listing).

A transaction table 206 may contain a record for each transaction (e.g.,a purchase or sale transaction or auction) pertaining to items for whichrecords exist within the items table 204.

An order table 208 may be populated with order records, with each orderrecord being associated with an order. Each order, in turn, may beassociated with one or more transactions for which records exist withinthe transaction table 206.

Bid records within a bids table 210 may relate to a bid received at thenetwork-based marketplace 12 in connection with an auction-formatlisting supported by an auction application 42 of FIG. 3. A feedbacktable 212 is utilized by one or more reputation applications 48 of FIG.3, in one example embodiment, to construct and maintain reputationinformation concerning users in the form of a feedback score. A historytable 214 may maintain a history of transactions to which a user hasbeen a party. One or more attributes tables 216 may record attributeinformation that pertain to items for which records exist within theitems table 204. Considering only a single example of such an attribute,the attributes tables 216 may indicate a currency attribute associatedwith a particular item, with the currency attribute identifying thecurrency of a price for the relevant item as specified in by a seller.

A search table 218 may store search information that has been entered bya user (e.g., buyer) who is looking for a specific type of listing. Acustomization table 220 may store customization information forincentivizing transactions that enhance social goodness.

A feed table 27 may facilitate the generation and presentation of a realtime continuously generated feed in the network-based marketplace 12.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating a feed table 27, according to anembodiment. The feed table 27 may include source feeds 29 that areutilized to generate the presentation feed 31 as shown in FIG. 1 andalias information 224 that is utilized to identify source feeds 29, asdescribed further below.

FIG. 4C is a block diagram illustrating alias information 224, accordingto an embodiment. The alias information 224 may include interests 226that are associated with source feed identifiers 228 that may beutilized to identify one or more of the source feeds 29. A user mayidentify an interest 226 (e.g., guitars) in the form of a selection thatis received by the network-based marketplace 12. The network-basedmarketplace 12 may associate the selection to one or more source feedidentifier 228 that are, in turn, utilized to identify one or moresource feeds 29 that are, in turn, utilized to identify content elements15 that are utilized to generate the presentation feed 31.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating source feeds 29, according to anembodiment. The source feeds 29 may be utilized by the network-basedmarketplace 12 to generate presentation feeds 31. Each of the sourcefeeds 29 may include different types of content elements 15, as shown inFIG. 1. The source feeds 29 may include listing source feeds 400, reviewsource feeds 402, business source feeds 403, personality source feeds405, remote source feeds 408 and local source feeds 409. The listingsource feeds 400, review source feeds 402, business source feeds 403,and personality source feeds 405 are described further below.

The remote source feeds 408 may include remote feed identifiers thatidentify content elements 15 and other information for retrieval from aremote server. For example, the remote source feed 408 may includeremote feed identifiers that are utilized to identify source feeds 29,content elements 15 and the third party server machines 41 (e.g., socialnetworking web site) where the source feeds 29 and the content elements15 are located. In another instance, the remote feed identifiers mayidentify source feeds 29, content elements 15 and the third party servermachines 41 (e.g., social networking web site) where the source feeds 29and the content elements 15 are located at the third party servermachines 41 based on a “friend” status that is shared by the user andanother user.

The local source feeds 409 may include content elements 15 that aregenerated based on information that is related to the network-basedmarketplace 12. For example, the local source feeds 409 may includecontent elements 15 that are generated based on service announcementsand business announcements that are authored by the network-basedmarketplace 12.

FIG. 5B is a block diagram illustrating listing source feeds 400,according to an embodiment. The listing source feeds 400 may includecontent elements 15 that were generated from listings that describeitems (e.g., goods or services) for sale on the network-basedmarketplace 12. Each content element 15 may present a single listing 300that may describe one item or a lot of items. The listing source feeds400 may be differentiated based on the type of item that is described ina listing 300. Merely for example the listing source feeds 400 are shownto illustrate a book source feed 410 that includes content elements 15that were generated from listings that describe books and a car sourcefeed 412 that includes content elements 15 that were generated fromlistings that describe cars. Other listing source feeds 400 for othertypes of items may be included in the source feeds 29. In oneembodiment, the listing source feeds 400 may correspond to categories onthe network-based marketplace 12. In another embodiment the listingsource feeds 400 may approximately correspond to the categories on thenetwork-based marketplace 12.

FIG. 5C is a block diagram illustrating review source feeds 402,according to an embodiment. The review source feeds 402 may include anitem review source feed 416 that includes content elements 15 that weregenerated from reviews of items that are being offered for sale that aredescribed in listings on the network-based marketplace, a seller reviewsource feed 418 that includes content elements 15 that were generatedfrom reviews of sellers that are selling items that are described inlistings on the network-based marketplace 12.

FIG. 5D is a block diagram illustrating business source feeds 403,according to an embodiment. The business source feeds 403 may include anadvertisement source feed 404 and a discounting source feed 406. Theadvertisement source feed 404 may include content elements 15 that weregenerated from advertisements of products or services. In one instancethe content elements 15 may describe products or services that are beingoffered for sale in listings 300 on the network-based marketplace 12.The discounting source feed 406 may include content elements 15 thatwere generated from discounts on products or services. In one instance,the content elements 15 may be generated for products or services thatare being offered for sale in listings 300 on the network-basedmarketplace 12.

FIG. 5E is a block diagram illustrating personality source feeds 405,according to an embodiment. The personality source feeds 405 may includean identity source feed 407 and an others source feeds 411. The identitysource feed 407 may include content elements 15 that were generatedbased on the identity of the user. In one instance the content elements15 may be generated based on one or more selections that were receivedfrom the user by the network-based marketplace 12. In another instancethe content elements 15 may be generated based on the present locationof the user. In another instance the content elements 15 may begenerated based on an inventory that is identified by the user (e.g., acollection of listings 300).

The others source feed 411 may include content elements 15 that weregenerated based on the identity of other users. In one instance thecontent elements 15 may be generated based on one or more selectionsthat were received from the other user by the network-based marketplace12. In another instance the content elements 15 may be generated basedon the present location of the other user. In another instance thecontent elements 15 may be generated based on an inventory that isidentified by the other user (e.g., a collection of listings 300).

FIG. 5F is a block diagram illustrating a presentation feed 31,according to an embodiment. The presentation feed 31 may include contentelements 15 that are retrieved from one or more source feeds 29 or othersources of content elements 15.

FIG. 5G is a block diagram illustrating content element 15, according toan embodiment. The content element 15 that is illustrated may begenerated based on a listing that describes an item for sale on thenetwork-based marketplace 12. For example the content element 15 mayinclude a title 420, an image 422, a price 424, a highest bid in anauction, a format 426 that may identify fixed-price listing formats(e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type listing or acatalogue listing) and buyout-type listings as described above, a timelisted 428 that describes the time the item was listed on thenetwork-based marketplace 12 and a source feed identifier 228 thatidentifies that source feed 29 from which the content element 15 wasretrieved. The content element 15 may be generated from any source andis not limited to a listing.

FIG. 6A is a block diagram illustrating an items table 204, according toan embodiment. The items table 204 may include listings 300 thatdescribe items (e.g., goods or services) that are being offered for saleon the network based marketplace 12.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a listing 300, according to anembodiment. The listing 300 may include a title 420, an image 422, aprice 424, a highest bid in an auction, a format 426, and a source feedidentifier 228 as described in FIG. 15. The listing 300 may furtherinclude categories 312 in which the listing 300 may be identified bybrowsing a hierarchy of categories on the network-based marketplace 12.

FIG. 6C is a block diagram illustrating a user table 202, according toan embodiment. The user table 202 may include user information 318 foreach user on the network-based marketplace 12 that describes therespective users.

FIG. 6D is a block diagram illustrating user information 318, accordingto an embodiment. The user information 318 may include feed selectioninformation 320 and content selection information 322. The feedselection information 320 may be utilized to identify source feeds 29for the user. The feed selection information 320 may include categoryselections 328 identified by the user and interests 226 identified bythe user. The feed selection information 320 may be used to identify, inreal-time, source feeds 29 that are used to generate the presentationfeed 31 associated with the user. The category selections 328 mayidentify recent category selections of the user that have been receivedby the network-based marketplace 12. The interests 226 may be receivedby the network-based marketplace 12 and utilized by the network-basedmarketplace 12 to identify source feeds 29 based on the aliasinformation 224 as shown in FIG. 4C. The interests 226 may be identifiedbased on selections of the user that are received by the network-basedmarketplace or one or more behaviours of the user that are identified bythe network-based marketplace 12 where a particular behaviour is definedby a set of selections.

The content selection information 322 may be used to identify contentelements 15. In one instance the content selection information 322 maybe used to identify content elements 15 for retrieval from one or moresource feeds 29. In another instance the content selection information322 may be used to identify content elements 15 for retrieval from asource other than the source feeds 29. The content selection information322 may include user filtering information 330, user progressioninformation 332, user preference information 334, user friendinformation 336, user location information 338, user selling information340, user purchasing information 342, user search information 344, andinterests 226. The user filtering information 330 may be utilized tofilter content elements 15. For example, the user may be provided anoption to exclude content elements 15 from the presentation feed 31. Inone instance the user may provide keywords that are received by thenetwork-based marketplace 12 and used to exclude matching contentelements 15 from the presentation feed 31. In one instance, the keywordsmay be conceptualized. For example, the keywords “Batman Returns DVD”(in category “movies”) may be conceptualized to “Batman” and used tofilter content elements 15 that describe items related to “Batman” (inother categories such as “Toys”, “Clothing”, etc.) from the presentationfeed 31. Further, the content element 15 may be excluded from thepresentation feed 31 based on user behaviour that is detected by thenetwork-based marketplace 12. For example, if a user only buys itemsmade in the USA, the presentation feed 31 may be filtered to onlyinclude those items. Further, if a user avoids a certain brand of itemsthen that brand of items may be removed from the presentation feed 31.Further, content elements 15 may be filtered based on an amount of moneyavailable in a financial account of the user such as banking account ora PayPal account. For example, content items 15 that are generated fromlistings 300 of items that include a price or a minimum bid above thatamount of money available in the financial account of the user may befiltered. The user progression information 332 may be utilized toidentify content elements 15 in the source feeds 29 based on aprogression of an entity that is associated with the user. An entity mayinclude a person, place or a thing. A progression of a person mayinclude the selection of content elements 15 that are age appropriatefor the person (e.g., baby, teenager, adult, etc.). A progression of aplace may include the selection of content elements 15 that areappropriate for the passing of time associated with the place. Forexample, content elements 15 may be selected based on a season (e.g.,Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) in association with places includingparks, theatres, and performing forums. A progression of a thing mayinclude the selection of content elements 15 that are appropriate forthe passing of time associated with the thing. For example, the contentelement 15 may be selected based on the present date and the maintenanceschedule for a car, appliance, or bill payment.

The user preference information 334 may be utilized to identify contentelements 15 based on preferences that are indicated by the user. In oneinstance the user preference information 334 may be utilized to identifycontent elements 15 in the source feeds 29 based on preferences that arereceived by the network-based marketplace 12 from the user. In oneinstance the user may express the preference in the form of keywordsthat are received by the network-based marketplace 12. In oneembodiment, the keywords may be conceptualized to identify additionalcontent elements 15. For example, the keywords “Oz DVD” (in category“movies”) may be conceptualized to “Oz” and used to add content elements15 related to “Oz” (in other categories such as “Toys”, “Clothing”,etc.) to the presentation feed 31. Further, additional weight may begiven to content elements 15 that relate to items that the userrepeatedly interacts with or purchases on the network-based marketplace12. The user friend information 336 may be utilized to identify contentelements 15 based on a “friend” of the user on the network-basedmarketplace 12 or a third party server machine 41 (e.g., socialnetworking web site). The user location information 338 may be utilizedto identify content elements 15 based on the present location of theuser. For example, the network-based marketplace 12 may identify contentelements 15 in one or more source feeds 29 that describe items for saleby bricks and mortar stores based on the location of the user. Further,the selection of content elements 15 based on the location of the usermay further be refined based on the time of day or local weather. Theuser selling information 340 may be utilized to identify contentelements 15 in the source feeds 29 based on the selling patterns of theuser. For example, a user who sells a quantity of a type of item over apredetermined threshold may trigger an identification of contentelements 15 that describe or are related to the type of item. The userpurchasing information 342 may be utilized to identify content element15 based on the purchasing patterns of the user. For example, a user whobuys a quantity of a type of items over a predetermined threshold maytrigger an identification of content elements 15 in source feeds 29based on the type of items. The user search information 344 may beutilized to identify content elements 15 based on the searches enteredby the user and received by the network-based marketplace 12.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a method 450, according to anembodiment, to facilitate feed in a network-based marketplace.Illustrated on the left is a client machine 19 and illustrated on theright is the network-based marketplace 12. The method 450 may commenceat operation 452 with the client machine 19 communicating a request tothe network-based marketplace 12.

At the network-based marketplace 12, at operation 454, the receivemodule 21 may receive the request and associated the request with a useridentifier. At operation 456 the process module 23 may identify sourcefeeds 29 and content elements 15 in the source feeds. For example, theprocess module 23 may utilize the user identifier to identify userinformation 318 in the user table 202 that includes the feed selectioninformation 320 and the content selection information 322. Next theprocess module 23 may utilize the feed selection information 320 toidentify source feeds 29.

At operation 458, the process module 23 may generate the presentationfeed 31 based on the source feeds 458 and the content selectioninformation 320. For example, the process module 23 may identify thecontent elements 15 in the source feeds 29 based on the contentselection information 322 and add the content elements 15 that wereidentified to the presentation feed 31. Further, the process module 23may identify content elements 15 that are not in a source feed 29 basedon the content selection information 320 and add the content elements 15that were identified to the presentation feed 31. At operation 460 theprocess module 23 may segment the presentation feed into pages 33. Forexample, the pages 33 may correspond to a quantity of content elements15 that may be displayed on a single screen of a device (e.g., desktopmonitor, mobile device, etc.) At operation 462, the process module 23may generate interfaces 35 based on the pages 33. For example, theprocess module 23 may generate a user interface including user interfaceelements or a machine interface based on machine interface elements. Atoperation 464, the process module 23 may set a timeout. At operation468, the communication module 25 may communicate the interface 35 (e.g.,user interface) over the network 14 to the client machine 19.

At the client machine 19, at operation 470, the client machine 19 mayreceive and display the interface 35. At operation 472, the clientmachine 19 may receive a prompt from the user for the next interface 35of content element 15 and communicate the prompt to the network-basedmarketplace 12.

At the network-based marketplace 12, at operation 468, the communicationmodule 25 may communicate the next interface 35 (e.g., user interface)to the client machine 19.

At operation “A,” responsive to the expiration of the timeout, theoperations 458, 460, 462 and 464 are performed again. In this manner thepresentation feed 31 is continuously generated in real-time until theprocess is interrupted. For example, the presentation feed 31 mayoperate as a continuously generated first-in, first-out buffer until theuser interrupts the process.

FIG. 7B is a block diagram illustrating a method 480, according to anembodiment, to add or remove an interest 226. Illustrated on the left isa client machine 19 and illustrated on the right is the network-basedmarketplace 12. The method 480 may commence at operation 482 with theclient machine 19 communicating a request to the network-basedmarketplace 12. For example, the request may include an interestidentifier, a user identifier, and a command to add or remove theinterest 226.

At the network-based marketplace 12, at operation 484, the receivemodule 21 may receive the request from the user. At operation 486 theprocess module 23 may add or remove the interest 226 for the user. Forexample, the process module 23 may identify the appropriate userinformation 318 based on the user identifier and add the interest 226 tothe feed selection information 320 and the content selection information322 based on a command that adds the interest or remove the interest 226from the feed selection information 320 and the content selectioninformation 322 based on a command that removes the interest.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a “My Feed” user interface 500, according to anembodiment. “My Feed” user interface 500 may be generated according tomethod 450 illustrated in FIG. 7. The “My Feed” user interface 500 maysupport browse by category selections 502 and include an input box 504to enter keywords to search for items on the network-based marketplace12. The keywords may be received by the network-based marketplaceresponsive the receipt of the selection of the search button 506. The“My Feed” user interface 500, near the top, is further shown to includea set of controls 508-518 that are illustrated horizontally across theinterface in a row. Below the controls, the “My Feed” user interface 500may include a body of content elements 15. The controls may include a“My Feed” control 508, an “Edit my Feed” control 510, a “What's Popular”control 512, a “Recently Reviewed” control 514 and a “Watch List”control 518. Each of the respective controls may be selected to advanceto the identified user interface, as is described below. The “RecentlyReviewed” control 514 is associated with a count 519 that identifies thenumber of content elements 15 on the “Recently Reviewed” user interfaceand the “Watch List” control 518 is associated with a count 521 thatidentifies the number of content element 15 elements on the “Watch List”user interface. The body of the user interface 500 includes contentelements 15. The illustrated content element 15 is for a listing 300 andis shown to include an image 522, a title 524, a price for purchase 526,a prompt for bid 528, time remaining 530 for the item to remain on salefor purchase or auction and a feed name 532 that is associated with asource feed identifier 228.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a site map 600, according to an embodiment, tofacilitate feed on a network-based marketplace. The site map 600 mayinclude an “Edit My Feed” interface 612, a “Sub-Feed” interface 610, a“Recently Viewed” interface 604, a “Watched” interface 606, a “My Feed”interface 602, a “What's Popular” interface 608 and an “On-Boarding”interface 614. Each of the interfaces may display an aggregation ofcontent elements 15. The arrows indicate paths that may be navigated bythe user to move from one interface to another. The “Recently Viewed”interface 604, “Watched” interface 606, “My Feed” interface 602, and“What's Popular” interface 608 may transition to each other. A “Viewed”interface 616 is further illustrated and is utilized to view a singlecontent element 15. The “Viewed” interface 616 may be entered from anyof the interfaces 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614.

“My Feed”

The “My Feed” interface 602 facilitates the presentation of contentelements 15 to the user and may be configured by the user. The “My Feed”interface 602 corresponds to the “My Feed” user interface 500 in FIG. 8and, accordingly, the same or similar references have been used toindicate the same or similar features unless otherwise indicated. The“My Feed” interface 602 is one form of the interface 35 disclosed inthis document. In one instance, the “My Feed” interface 602 may be thehomepage of the user. In other instances, the “My Feed” interface 602may be entered from the “Edit My Feed” interface 612, the “Sub-Feed”interface 610, the “On-Boarding” interface 614, the “What's Popular”interface 608, the “Watched” interface 606, and the “Recently Viewed”interface 604.

The user may interact with the content elements 15 that were generatedfrom listings 300 on the “My Feed” interface 602. Responsive to a hoverover of a content element 15 that was generated from a listing 300, theuser may be presented with selectable actions to: (A) watch an item thatis described by a listing 300, or (B) remove an item that is describedby a listing 300. Responsive to the user selecting the title 420 orimage 422 of a content element 15 that was generated from a listing 300the user may be presented with a single item in the “Viewed” layer 616that provides additional details about the item. Responsive to the userselecting the feed name 532 the user is presented with the “Sub Feed”interface 610.

The “My Feed” interface 602 may be infinitely scrolled, meaning that asthe user scrolls down the interface 602, the process module 23 continuesto retrieve content elements 15 from the source feeds 29 and generatethe presentation feed 31. Further, the network-based marketplace 12 maycontinuously identify items that are described by listings 300 that arepresently becoming available (e.g., new listing, new offer for sale,etc.) and that match the feed selection information 320 and the contentselection information 322 associated with the user. Responsive to anidentification of content elements 15 that are new, a “new discoveries”interface element may be displayed on the top of the “My Feed” interface602 with a count of the newly matching items that are now available forthe user to view in the “My Feed” interface 602. Selection of theinterface element may move the user to the top of the “My Feed”interface 602 where the new items are displayed in the form of contentelements 15 that are faded to facilitate detection by the user.

“What's Popular”

The “What's Popular” interface 608 may include content elements 15 thatare identified as popular on the network-based marketplace 12. The“What's Popular” interface 608 may be generated with the method 450, asillustrated in FIG. 7, where the method 450 is altered by using only thebusiness source feeds 403, the local source feeds 409 and source feeds29 that include content elements 15 that depict listings 300 of itemsthat are identified as popular in the network-based marketplace 12. Inone instance the content elements 15 may be selected based on searchesthat are identified as popular on the network-based marketplace 12. Inone instance the content elements 15 may be selected based on categoryselections 328 and interests 226 that are associated with the user. The“What's Popular” interface 608 is one form of the interface 35.

The user may interact with the content elements 15 on the “What'sPopular” interface 608. Responsive to a hover over of a content element15 that was generated from a listing 300, the user may be presented withselectable actions to: (A) watch an item that is described by a listing300, or (B) remove an item that is described by a listing 300.Responsive to the user selecting the title 420 or image 422 of a contentelement 15 that was generated from a listing 300 the user may bepresented with a single item in the “Viewed” layer 616 that providesadditional details about the item. Responsive to the user selecting thefeed name 532 the user is presented with the “Sub Feed” interface 610.

The “What's Popular” interface 608 may be infinitely scrolled, asdescribed above responsive to identifying the user has already created afeed (e.g., My Feed). Otherwise, the “What's Popular” interface 608 maybe blocked at a bottom where the user is prompted to create their ownfeed.

“Recently Viewed”

The “Recently Viewed” interface 604 includes content elements 15 thatdepict listings 300 of items the user has recently viewed in previoussessions. The “Recently Viewed” interface 604 may be generated with themethod 450, as illustrated in FIG. 7, where the method 450 is altered byusing only the business source feeds 403, the local source feeds 409 anda source feed 29 that includes content elements 15 that depict listings300 of items the user has recently viewed in previous sessions. The “MyFeed” interface 602 is one form of the interface 35.

“Watched”

The “Watched” interface 606 may include content elements 15 that depictlistings 300 of items the user has added to their watch list. The“Watched” interface 606 may be generated with the method 450, asillustrated in FIG. 7, where the method 450 is altered by using only thebusiness source feeds 403, the local source feeds 409 and a source feed29 that includes content elements 15 that depict listings 300 of itemsthe user has viewed in recent sessions. The “My Feed” interface 602 isone form of the interface 35. The “Watched” interface 606 may beutilized by the user to view the current price/current bid and otherdetails of items. Further, the user may receive emails when the statusof a listing 300 changes.

“Edit My Feed”

The “Edit My Feed” interface 612 facilitates the monitoring, additionand removal of interests 226. For example, the “Edit My Feed” interface612 may present multiple interests 226 that are presently being followedby the user. The user may elect to remove the interest 226 or do nothingand continue to follow the interest. In another instance, the user mayenter keywords that may be received by the receive module 21 and theprocess module 23 may associate the keyword to interests 226 that areidentified as added (e.g. being followed). In another instance the usermay connect with a third party application 43 on a third party servermachine 41 (e.g., Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) to retrieve interests 226for following by the user. For example, the user may login to the thirdparty server machine 41 and request the third party application 43 onthe third party server machine 41 to “share” the interests 226 of theuser with the network-based marketplace 12 or to “share” the interests226 of a “friend” of the user with the network-based marketplace 12. Theinterests 226 that area added with the “Edit My Feed” interface 612 maybe stored as feed selection information 320 and content selectioninformation 322.

“Sub-Feed”

The “Sub-Feed” interface 610 includes content elements 15 from onesource feed 29. The “Sub-Feed” interface 610 is generated with themethod 450, as illustrated in FIG. 7, where the method 450 may bealtered by using only the business source feeds 403, the local sourcefeeds 409 and a source feed 29 that is identified by the user. The“Sub-Feed” interface 610 is one form of the interface 35. The “Sub-Feed”interface 610 may be entered responsive to the user selecting the sourcefeed name 532 of a content element 15 as it appears on the “My Feed”interface 602. The “Sub-Feed” interface 610 may also be enteredresponsive to the user selecting an interface element associated with aninterest 226 as it appears on the “Edit My Feed” interface 612.

“On-Boarding”

The “On-Boarding” interfaces 614 facilitate a user to initiallyconfigure presentation feed 31 (e.g., “My Feed”). The “On-Boarding”interfaces 614 may enable the network-based marketplace 12 to receiveselections from the user that identify source feeds 29 and interests226. In one instance the network-based marketplace 12 may suggest sourcefeeds 29 to the user based on searches that have been entered by theuser and searches that have been saved by the user. In another instancethe network-based marketplace 12 may communicate an input box in whichthe user may enter keywords that are received by the network-basedmarketplace 12 and associated with interests 226 that the user may thenselect by selecting a “Follow” interface element that is associated withthe user. In one instance the user must select a minimum number ofsource feeds 29 before the users feed is configured. In another instancethe user may connect with a third party application 43 on a third partyserver machine 41 (e.g., Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) to retrieveinterests 226 that may then be selected for following. For example, theuser may login to the third party server machine 41 and request thethird party application 43 on the third party server machine 41 to“share” the interests of the user with the network-based marketplace 12.

“Viewed”

The “Viewed” interface 616 may include a single content element 15 thatdepicts a listing 300. The “Viewed” interface 616 may be entered byselecting the title 420 or the image 422 of a content element 15 of alisting 300 from any of the above identified interfaces 35. The “Viewed”interface 616 may provide additional information for the item. Forexample, the “Viewed” interface 616 may enable the user to purchase theitem or enter a bid that wins an auction. In one instance the Viewed”interface 616 may enable the user to share the item with third partyapplication 43 on a third party server machine 41 (e.g., Facebook,Pinterest, Twitter, email, etc.).

Other Interfaces

The term “interface 35,” as used in this document, may include the “EditMy Feed” interface 612, the “Sub-Feed” interface 610, the “RecentlyViewed” interface 604, the “Watched” interface 606, the “My Feed”interface 602, the “What's Popular” interface 608, the “On-Boarding”interface 614 and the “Viewed” interface 616. It will be appreciated byone having ordinary skill in the art that the term “interface 35” mayalso include other types of interfaces including more specializedinterfaces. Accordingly, the functionality that is enabled by the abovedescribed interfaces 602, 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, 614 and 616 may beembodied as a user interface including user interface elements, amachine interface including machine interface elements, an audiointerface including audio interface elements, a kinetic interfaceincluding kinetic interface elements, and other types of interfaces 35.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a “Viewed” user interface 700, according to anembodiment. The “Viewed” user interface 700 corresponds to the “Viewed”interface 616 in FIG. 9 and, accordingly, the same or similar referenceshave been used to indicate the same or similar features unless otherwiseindicated. The “Viewed” user interface 700 may be displayed on theclient machine 5 and depict a listing 300 of an item that is for sale onthe network-based marketplace 12. The “Viewed” user interface 700 may beentered by selecting the title or image of a content element 15 that isgenerated from a listing 300 on the network-based marketplace 12. The“Viewed” user interface 700 may include a user interface elements 702,706, 708 and 710 that may be selected by the user and a user input box704 to facilitate entry of a bid by the user. Responsive to a userselection of the user interface element 702, the receive module 21 mayreceive the selection and the fixed-price applications 44 may processthe selection to purchase the item (e.g., laptop) for the user.Responsive to a user entering and submitting a bid in the user input box704, the receive module 21 may receive the bid and the auctionapplications 42 applications 58 may enter the bid in the auction thatmay result in the user winning the auction. Responsive to a userselection of the user interface element 706, the receive module 21 mayreceive the selection and the listing creation applications 58 mayprocess the selection to establish a watch of the item (e.g., laptop)for the user. Responsive to a user selection of the user interfaceelement 708, the receive module 21 may receive the selection and thepayment applications 32 may process the selection to provide financingfor purchasing the item or winning the item in an auction. Responsive toa user selection of the user interface element 710, the receive module21 may receive the selection and the network-based marketplace 12 mayprocess the selection to share the listing 300 with a third partyapplication 43 that is hosted an a third party server machine 41 (e.g.,Facebook, Twitter, etc.).

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an “Edit My Feed” user interface 750, accordingto an embodiment. The Edit My Feed” user interface 750, corresponds tothe “Edit My Feed” interface 612 in FIG. 9 and, accordingly, the same orsimilar references have been used to indicate the same or similarfeatures unless otherwise indicated. The “Edit My Feed” user interface750 may facilitate the monitoring, addition and removal of interests226. The “Edit My Feed” user interface 750 may include a follow panel752, a search panel 754, and a suggestion panel 756.

The follow panel 752 may include multiple interest elements 770 thatdescribe interests 226. Each interest element 758 may include an image760, a title 762, and a user interface element 764 bearing the status“Following,” indicating the interest 226 is presently being followed bythe user. The user may stop following the interest 226. For example, theuser may select the user interface element 764 causing the status tochange to “Unfollow,” as illustrated in the interest element 758 for“Vintage Films” on the bottom left of the follow panel 752. Responsiveto the user selecting the user interface element 764, the receive module21 may receive an interest identifier and the process module 23 mayremove the interest 226 from the feed selection information 320 and thecontent selection information 322.

The search panel 754 may include an input box 766 and a user interfaceelement 768. Responsive to the user selecting the user interface element768, the receive module 21 may receive the keywords that were enteredinto the input box 766 by the user, the process module 23 may identifyinterests 226 based on the keywords, and the process module 23 may storethe interests 226 as feed selection information 320 and contentselection information 322. The suggestion panel 756 may include multiplesuggestion elements 770. Each suggestion element 770 may include animage, a title, and a user interface element 774 with the status“Follow” indicating the interest 226 is presently not being followed bythe user. The user may select the user interface element 774 to startfollowing the interest. Responsive to the user selecting the userinterface element 774, the receive module 21 may receive an interestidentifier that is associated with the particular user interface element774 and the process module 23 may add the interest 226 to the feedselection information 320 and the content selection information 322.

Modules, Components and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied (1) on a non-transitorymachine-readable medium or (2) in a transmission signal) orhardware-implemented modules. A hardware-implemented module is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more processors may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware-implemented modulethat operates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implementedmodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implementedmodule may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., asencompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmableprocessor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certainoperations. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement ahardware-implemented module mechanically, in dedicated and permanentlyconfigured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g.,configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understoodto encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily ortransitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certainmanner and/or to perform certain operations described herein.Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules aretemporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implementedmodules comprise a general-purpose processor configured using software,the general-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware-implemented modules at different times. Software mayaccordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware-implemented module at one instance of time and toconstitute a different hardware-implemented module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiples of such hardware-implementedmodules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved throughsignal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) thatconnects the hardware-implemented modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware-implementedmodules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrievalof information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware-implemented modules have access. For example, onehardware-implemented module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then,at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process thestored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiatecommunications with input or output devices, and can operate on aresource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or processors or processor-implementedmodules. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributedamong the one or more processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a singlelocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or as aserver farm), while in other embodiments the processors may bedistributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that both hardware and software architectures requireconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or a combinationof permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a designchoice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a machine within which instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. In one example embodiment, the machinemay be the user device 104. In one example embodiment, the machine maybe the bid resolution processing system 110 and/or the offer processingsystem 108. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as astandalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in thecapacity of a server or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), acellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 1100 includes a processor 1102 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 1104 and a static memory 1106, which communicatewith each other via a bus 1108. The computer system 1100 may furtherinclude a video display unit 1110 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1100 also includes analphanumeric input device 1112 (e.g., a keyboard), a user interface (UI)navigation device 1114 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1116, a signalgeneration device 1118 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device1120.

Machine-Readable Medium

The drive unit 1116 includes a machine-readable medium 1122 on which isstored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software) 1124 embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1124 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory1104 and/or within the processor 1102 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 1100, the main memory 1104 and the processor 1102 alsoconstituting machine-readable media. Instructions may also reside withinthe static memory 1106.

While the machine-readable medium 1122 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore instructions or data structures. The term “machine-readable medium”shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductormemory devices, e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Transmission Medium

The instructions 1124 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1126 using a transmission medium. Theinstructions 1124 may be transmitted using the network interface device1120 and any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g.,HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephonenetworks, Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., WiFi and WiMax networks). The term “transmission medium”shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine,and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate embodiment.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom,such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of this disclosure. The figuresprovided herein are merely representational and may not be drawn toscale. Certain proportions thereof may be exaggerated, while others maybe minimized Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Thus, feed in a network-based marketplace were disclosed. While thepresent disclosure has been described in terms of several exampleembodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thepresent disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described, but maybe practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit andscope of the appended claims. The description herein is thus to beregarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, from a clientmachine over a network, a request associated with a user indicating tofollow a feed that is associated with an interest; identifying, based oninformation that corresponds to the user, a plurality of feedsassociated with a plurality of interests that are indicated as followedby the user, the plurality of feeds including the feed indicated by therequest; causing the client machine to render a first user interface fordisplaying one or more listing elements of items for purchase selectedfrom the plurality of feeds; and causing the client machine to render asecond user interface for configuring feed selection information that isassociated with the user, wherein the second user interface includes aplurality of status elements, each status element indicating whether arespective feed that is associated with a respective interest is beingfollowed and being selectable to unfollow the respective feed.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising causing display of a third userinterface for configuring listing elements included in the feedassociated with the interest.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinindividual listing elements, of the one or more listing elements,include an image and a price of an item for sale via a network-basedmarketplace.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving,from the client machine, an additional request indicating to unfollow anadditional interest; and based on the additional request, updating thefirst user interface to exclude at least one listing element, of the oneor more listing elements, that is associated with the additionalinterest.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more listingelements of items for purchase are associated with a network-based storethat is at least partially personalized with respect to the user.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving user input inassociation with the first user interface for displaying the one or morelisting elements; and in response to the user input, dynamicallyupdating the one or more listing elements within the first userinterface.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of feeds areassociated with facilitating presentation of the one or more listingelements in a network-based marketplace, and wherein the network-basedmarketplace enables individual users to buy items, sell items, or both.8. The method of claim 1, wherein each respective feed of the pluralityof feeds includes listing elements of items for purchase relating to therespective interest.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second userinterface includes a plurality of interest elements, and wherein eachinterest element is associated with an interest of the plurality ofinterests and includes a title of the interest, an image associated withthe interest, and a status element of the plurality of status elementsassociated with the interest.
 10. A system, comprising: at least oneprocessor; and at least one computer storage media storing instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor to: receive, from aclient machine over a network, a request associated with a userindicating to follow a feed that is associated with an interest;identify, based on information that corresponds to the user, a pluralityof feeds associated with a plurality of interests that are indicated asfollowed by the user, the plurality of feeds including the feedindicated by the request; cause the client machine to render a firstuser interface for displaying one or more listing elements of items forpurchase selected from the plurality of feeds; and cause the clientmachine to render a second user interface for configuring feed selectioninformation that is associated with the user, wherein the second userinterface includes a plurality of status elements, each status elementindicating whether a respective feed that is associated with arespective interest is being followed and being selectable to unfollowthe respective feed.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein theinstructions are further executable by the at least one processor tocause display of a third user interface for configuring listing elementsincluded in the feed associated with the interest.
 12. The system ofclaim 10, wherein individual listing elements, of the one or morelisting elements, include an image and a price of an item for sale via anetwork-based marketplace.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein theinstructions are further executable by the at least one processor to:receive, from the client machine, an additional request indicating tounfollow an additional interest; and based on the additional request,update the first user interface to exclude at least one listing element,of the one or more listing elements, that is associated with theadditional interest.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or morelisting elements of items for purchase are associated with anetwork-based store that is at least partially personalized with respectto the user.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the at least one processor to: receive user inputin association with the first user interface for displaying the one ormore listing elements; and in response to the user input, dynamicallyupdate the one or more listing elements within the first user interface.16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storinginstructions that, when executed by one or more hardware processors of amachine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: receiving,from a client machine over a network, a request associated with a userindicating to follow a feed that is associated with an interest;identifying, based on information that corresponds to the user, aplurality of feeds associated with a plurality of interests that areindicated as followed by the user, the plurality of feeds including thefeed indicated by the request; causing the client machine to render afirst user interface for displaying one or more listing elements ofitems for purchase selected from the plurality of feeds; and causing theclient machine to render a second user interface for configuring feedselection information that is associated with the user, wherein thesecond user interface includes a plurality of status elements, eachstatus element indicating whether a respective feed that is associatedwith a respective interest is being followed and being selectable tounfollow the respective feed.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause themachine to perform operations comprising: causing display of a thirduser interface for configuring listing elements included in the feedassociated with the interest.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein individual listing elements, of theone or more listing elements, include an image and a price of an itemfor sale via a network-based marketplace.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the machine to perform operations comprising: receiving,from the client machine, an additional request indicating to unfollow anadditional interest; and based on the additional request, updating thefirst user interface to exclude at least one listing element, of the oneor more listing elements, that is associated with the additionalinterest.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to performoperations comprising: receiving user input in association with thefirst user interface for displaying the one or more listing elements;and in response to the user input, dynamically updating the one or morelisting elements within the first user interface.